4 Best Ways to Reduce Inflammation, Ease Chronic Pain & Enjoy Life

INSIDE: Inflammation is one of the biggest culprits of chronic disease and most people don't even realize it. Use these ways to reduce inflammation to treat the root cause of pain and enjoy a better quality of life.

Inflammation can sometimes prove to be good when it protects against infections and injuries. However, most of us endure long-term chronic inflammation without even realizing it.

In this article, we'll discuss what causes inflammation, some symptoms you may experience as a result, and four sure-fire ways to reduce inflammation.

Let’s dive in!

What Causes Inflammation in the Body?

Inflammation occurs most commonly after:

• Consuming sugar
• Eating packaged or processed foods containing trans fats
• Consuming refined carbs
• Consuming unhealthy vegetable oils
• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Irregular sleep patterns

Symptoms of Inflammation

Following are some symptoms you may experience when dealing with inflammation:

• Joint pain and/or swollen joints
• Redness
• Loss of energy or fatigue
• Muscle stiffness
• Headaches
• Loss of appetite

How to Reduce Inflammation

If you think you may be dealing with inflammation, or you at least hope to prevent it from ever occurring, here are four ways you can reduce and avoid inflammation.  

1) A Proper Diet

One of the best ways to reduce inflammation is by looking into your refrigerator, not in your medicine cabinet!

Following a certain diet and avoiding trigger foods is one of the first things to opt for when working to reduce inflammation.

This is because an anti-inflammatory diet contains loads of foods and drinks that have anti-inflammatory properties, serving to reduce inflammation and the consequences it comes with.

All you have to do is create the right grocery list containing anti-inflammatory foods, and you’re that much closer to a healthy body!

Some of the best anti-inflammatory foods include:

• Collard greens, such as kale and spinach
• Tomatoes
• Fruits, such as oranges, strawberries, cherries
• Fatty fish, like tuna and salmon
• Nuts, i.e. walnuts, almonds, cashews
• Olive oil

Additionally, fruits and vegetables that are high in antioxidants like berries, beets, and beans play a huge role in reducing inflammation.

Check out this article by Harvard University for more information on anti-inflammatory foods.

The major benefit to this type of diet is that reducing inflammation simultaneously reduces the chance of other chronic diseases as well.

2) Consistent Exercise

We all know that exercise is important for our health, and one of the reasons is because of its ability to reduce inflammation.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, it’s important to:

• Partake in 75 minutes (all together) of high-intensity exercise per week
• Improve your muscle strength by lifting weights or using resistance bands once or twice per week at moderate or high intensity
• Exercise for 30 minutes 5 days per week at moderate intensity
• Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night to reduce the risk of inflammation

3) Use Crystals to Reduce Inflammation

As uncommon as it may sound, using crystals is also one of the best ways to reduce inflammation.

Crystals and healing stones can help with reducing inflammation due to the frequencies they emit. You can carry them in your pockets, wear them as jewelry, place them around your house under your pillow to experience their healing vibrations.

The following crystals are especially helpful for inflammation...

Aquamarine

Aquamarine can be used to help reduce pain when directly applied to the area of inflammation. It also helps us enter into a calmer state of mind.

Emerald

Emerald not only helps to reduce inflammation, it can also boost our immune system as well. Keeping one of these beautiful stones on you at all times can be extremely beneficial for your health.

Pyrite

Not just the stone of abundance, Pyrite has also been used for ages to fight disease. This mineral works to shield the body from environmental pollutants and is extremely beneficial in treating infections, inflammation, and other symptoms of sickness. It’s a great stone for medical workers.

Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli is extremely beneficial for the nervous and respiratory systems. It has the ability to soothe areas of inflammation, purify blood, lower blood pressure, and cleanse the organs.

Lepidolite

Lepidolite is a great stone to use for relieving pain or stress. It contains lithium, a calming mineral used to soothe the nervous system. It’s been known to help treat bipolar disorder and aid in arthritis, joint pain, and inflammation from broken bones. 

Rose Quartz

Rose Quartz is a highly calming stone that works to decrease inflammation, swelling, and/or puffiness while applying a cooling sensation to the body. Not only does it increase self love, but it also offers relief.

All of these stones are very beneficial for anti-inflammatory purposes and can be used as one of the ways to reduce inflammation with proper guidelines by experts.

4) Say Goodbye to Stress

People who have a greater emotional response to stress, such as nail-biting or easily tensing up, are more likely to experience an inflammation markup, known as interleukin-6. 

Stress is a huge reason for increasing problems like heart rate, blood pressure, and blood vessels working harder. Therefore, working on reducing stress levels plays an important role in finding ways to reduce inflammation.

Here are some of tips that can help you reduce your cortisol levels whenever you're feeling stressed:

• Exercise! (just in case you missed the earlier section)
• Burn scented candles
• Diffuse essential oils
• Reduce your caffeine intake
• Chew a stick of gum
• Journal or write down your worries
• Spend quality time with loved ones
• Avoid procrastination so you don’t get stressed with approaching deadlines
• Carve out some time for yoga
• Practice breathwork, like the Wim Hof method, whenever you feel panicked

Final Thoughts

If you’ve made it to the end, it’s safe to say that you take your health seriously, and kudos to you for that! 

This article introduced the easiest ways to reduce inflammation. Inflammation may be one of the major reasons for various problems like joint pain, headaches, loss of appetite, and more. Doing your best to reduce inflammation and the risks that come with it is one of the most sensible things you can be doing.